Winding apparatus



July 27, 1943. 1:. J. ABBE 2,325,211

WINDING APPARATUS Filed May 17, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. E I EDWARD J. A555 '3 ATTORNEYS-67 July 27, 1943. J ABBE 2,325,211

WINDING APPARATUS Filed May 17, 1940 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 7 Fig. 8

INVENTOR. EDWARD J: A 55E ATTORNEYS.

July 27, 1943. E. J. ABBE WINPING APPARATUS Filed May 17, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 W JJ ma m V D .4 W mu tieularly pointed out 'in -the elairns' Patented July 27, 1943 Thisinvention relates, "genera ya imiieatsd to winding apparatus and has-reference particularly to a vehicle or truckwupongwh mounted a rotating device which is; adaDted -fqr being coupled toa mechanism I for: imparting torque thereto; fThis invention; is par cularly adaptedsfor opening and closing the bottom *dQQrs or g atessoi railroad cars and the like; i s, y .1

It 'is well known to those acquainted, with the art of opening "and "closing such .Jgates that-the same are controlled =by1an availableend 01a, horizontal shaft which is disposed below the car, This-end is usually providedwith coupling means,- suchlasva :square or. hextv configuratiom for being cou;p1ed.to a,-nd manipulated .nbytausuitable tool such as a :wrench and the like. Rotation-of the shaft actuates mechanism which opensland closes the gates. Since railroad 'oars even'. of ..'similar type, are not duplicates the position of the :end of -thisshaft 'w illwary fromcar to car. lThe relation between' th'elevelof the ground and the level. of: the trackvari'e's even though relatively short 'distanoes along the track he Considered. l

a The method heretofore. employed for opening and closing.the gates'usualls required twov'men ears are positioned on anelevated track over the bin. A c at-wa'lk'--adacent thetrackaccornmodates-gate opening werkmen.- -B'yhaeans of this invention,- po'wer 'driven-apparatus is provided to replace the manua-l-energ-Y required foropening and -closing the gates.

* The-"primary object of this i r'ivention has been to provide aquicklymaneuverabletruck embodying power driven apparatus for opening and-e1psing the bottom gates of railroad ears; I

*Anoth'erObject of this invention has been to provide winding apparatus of the type referred towhichis .adapted'to be raised and lowered. Still another object Of this inventi'onfh'asheen to "provide: 'a device of the character referred to which .is equipped" withselifgl'g'cking steering T mechanism. 7; H v A further object ,of thisv invention has 'b'ee'njfto provide a truck of th flcharac'tei- ,dscrilb'edw. v iscompact and which has in cbrporatedijtherein saret'y ieatures.

,To theflaccomplishmeht of thefioregeing;

related ends, saidjinvention thenconsists of the means hereinafter f ully, descriloedend par- 4 Fthe anneXed drawings and: the QfOlIOWI QE-LQ -IJSQ 21219 settin 2, s25,211 I v PARATTi IS" t 2 Eflw ru A e,Clevel nd;o ms a it '1 Electric Company, GlevelaniL; --ohio, a c r pom" uon of Ohio c v I a ie uen M il-*7, 1940; ser'arua. 535,797

some; 2

fo nqdt 11 G r y- &0

nd anti V, s h d a aemia v e lisaisi l QIQVW QPNP rug.v 8;is .aglpartiallyyim me lfiry tvi wr QS from the -rightoi Fig.3; 2.; 2

:fEigs'. 9 and 1;Q i.aerammat :1m iShiW-nfieeli h means which are phltmfthiu ftFigL B and z 2 1s ;an, ;en1arsf line-lr2+t2aid-712.29.; I As is above indicated, this inventionteomprises; broadly, ia-hpowerrdriven truck and rower driven rotatable -couplingmoi-1med:tl rereofn. truck is ub'estise'eni Dailies; 1-12.; and; 2 and be describedx- Q Thfe truckiinz'geheraltqomprises a mew-Stra ns it: :upon which islmountedigwithimaa hood 1563a suitable source lot" i power, a-{such ashed motor gene erator set: for propelling; rear; Wheels :l From tb'ri-thelilri l and 12. As is heretofor indicated,the truck will frequently operate upon an elevated cat-walk below which thestorase bins aredisposed. Where 'the cargo is; ore or coal,'- :it might contai n hard;

lumps which will find their way to thecat-walk." The truck during the course of its travel might be;

tention is directed to two important instant cenupset or swerve off of the cat-walk by engage ment of the front wheels It with such-"1umps.'- I

However, if the steering mechanism wereof-the self-locking type so that it vwere' non-responsive to jolts of the steered wheels, then the possibility j of accidentally running off of thecat-walk would bemateriallyreduced.

The steering mechanism is arranged to have} 1 a such, a self-locking means andis controlled by a steering wheel '30 which is preferably horizontally disposed'in-'advance*of the control panel 24 as is more clearly seeninFig. 1. Suitably connected to the steering wheelas "by meansof-a key 32 and nut 33 is""a si'lbsha'ftlM' which-is journalled in a block 36. -This bloclc is seen'in detail in Fig. 12 and comprises a bod-y' portion from which projects'afpair'of pivot arms 38. These arms are supported by' the frame immediatelybelow the steering wheel for pivotal movement about a-horizontal axis which is perpendicular to Figsland 9. a I

.The lower end of the subshaft-projectswithin and is welded at 39, or otherwise suitably secured,

to a tube4 l This tube is provided with interior threads 42 which engage an exteriorly threaded s eeve 44 which, along with-tube I projectswithin and is secured-tda sleeve 46'bymeansof screws 41. Rivets 48 are provided for further securing the tube to sleeve. Projecting within the tube and the sleeve 4411s athreaded nonrotatable shaft 50; the threadsor i which engage interior threads-of the sleeve 44.. I i I alubricant for lubricat- For-the admission of ing the threads an opening-|; adaptedlto be suitably plugged, is provided in-theupperlpor'tion of the tube, and sealing means. .52- prevent loss of suchlubricant. -v.

v a For translatingithe'vertical movement of sh ft 50 intohorizontalmovement, the same actuates a bell crank.55. -The'bellzcrank is journaled to the frame I5 by means of an anti-friction-xbearin 56, the axis ofwhich is parallel to theraxis about which the block 36 pivots. One arm of the bell crank is pivotally connectedatj'! to a stub shaft 58.which:is weldedto-theshaft ,50. .Asteerin reach-60 is pivotally connected to. the 'other end SI of the bell crank andextendstherefrom. below theraxisrof the wheels l1. forwardlyto the front wheels where it, is 'pivqtally connected to a shearing knuckle 54. I'1.1e .latter. is secured by nut 65 to a suitable portion 56, of one of the front a s- Each .Q t ehfronta esy s by me l elements similartogelements Stand 56 connected toa steering knuckle 68, vjl'hese steering knuckles 68, are ivotallyeonnected to 'a' radius rod 69, I

. From the foregoing it will be seenl. 'that' rota-s, tion of the: steering wheel,30,?1rotates thel'sleeve 44 about the shaft 50. Thus the shaftifl 'i'sirais'ed or lowered withrespect, to the block 6 or"frame l 5' and bymeans'of 'thebell crank pushes orpulls thesteering reach and ni-anipulates ltheindividual frontaxles. .It will also 'beseenfthat jar's im parted to "the steeringknucklesby' meansjof the V front wheelsicoming in contactw'ith lumps of the character de'sc'ribedfwill notfbe transmitted as rotational energy to the steering wheel and cause the truck to swerve off thecat-wallr. 'Inother' words the steering "mechanisrnfcarr' be" appropri ately described as' self-locking 'or'i-rreversible; It

ters of the steering column. The instant center of the steering column with respect to the frame I5 is stationary and is the axis of the pivot arms 38. .'I'he instant center of the steering column .with respect to the bell crank.55 is at 51. Thus when the steering wheel 30 is actuated, the whole steering column simultaneously pivots about the thereof and will now be described in detail. Thecoupling as distinguished from the power means for driving the same; will be described first, reference bein'g'had particularly to' Figs. band 6. The coupling is in the nature of a wrench which is the driven member'of a universal joint; .The driving member of the universal joint is a square bar 15 which is provided with an enlarged boredend 16. The driven member,.indicatedgenerally by 18, is provided at one end thereof with an axial bore 19 and at theotherendthereof with:a square recess which intersectsjthe bore 19. The square recess80 maybe hexor any other configuration so'tas'to permit it to be coupled toztherailroad carbottom gate actuating shaft. j

" 'For interconnecting the driving and the driven membersthere is projecting intothebore i9 and the bore of the-end'lt an elementBZiwhich, it is to be noted, is of circular transverse:crosssection and .presents av pair of high spots, .one disposed within each of the bores andone'of which isindicated at 83. These high spotsmay, in longitudinal crossrsection, be V or u shape. Thus the element 82 in longitudinalcross section is-in effect substantially aw As is seen in Fig. -6,' the element 82'has extending ,therethrol gh a pin 84 the ends of which occupy circumferential extendingslots' 85 of the end .16. ,A similar pin 84a and slot 85a interconnect the element;82 andthe driven element .'l 8. Pin 84 isdisposed at right anglesto pin 84a. and for permittingplay, the

slots are longer than the transversedimensions of the pins." Hence, the" driven; element 18 may Thus the driven element [8 and the square shaft 15 are interconnected for the transmission of rotational energy even; though they; are swung out of alignment. This universal joint, permitting as is above noted, alimited amount of rotationalplay between and non-alignment of thedriven element It and the square bar 15', is useful in coupling the driven element I8 to the gate actuating shaft and eliminates undesirable inching of the truck for aligning the recess 80 with the gate actuating shaft; g Q For purposes of preventing injury to theflng'ers of the operator, a suitable,,flexible jacket 81 madepof rubber for instance, is provided and covers the entire universal joint. 1 As is above said, the coupling is power driven. The power drive',;however,- not only rotatesthe coupling but also raises and 'lowers'the same-and axis of the-sprocket wheel I. Rotatably jour-' n'aledat one endto the shaft [Stand at the other endto the shaftllil are a pair, of spacerarms 112.. Shaft l'lllis provided at, oneend with a flangejl 13 and at the other end with a washer and nut If" for maintaining in assembled relation the various elements which are supported thereby. It is'thus seen that'as the'driving shaft IBILrotates, the brackets ll 3,;the spacer armsl 35 and H2 all pivot relatively to each other: It, will also be seen that regardless o f;the-elevation of the square bar I5, the same maybe rotated,

a The hood Misprovided witha pair ofverQ ticallyextending'slots H6; for accommodating the square bar.

space isD 'Q id d such asrbatteries I80 which start the motor-generator set. By means of aswitch lever IN. the

speed and direction of motor 94 may be varied. A

adjacent the hood i6 for ac-l commodating asuitable source of electrical energyswitch lever I 82 adjacent the switch I8 I similarly controls the direction and speed of the motor 92 i Operation Suitable control (not shown) permit the en-. ginewithin the hood topropelthetruck atvari-v g ous speeds forwardly or rearwardly. By inanipulationof the steering wheel 30 the truck is steered so that the coupling element isv in the,

immediate vicinity of the end of the gate actuatingjshaft. The switch I82 is utilized for raising or lowering the couplingto the same level as the gate actuating shaft. The operator while standing on the platform reaches over thepl'ate 22, grabs the jacketlfl and manuall longitudinally moves the square bar until by means of the play hereinbefore described the-driven element 18 of the coupling is coupled to thegate actuating shaft. Then by manipulation of the switch lever IBI the motor 94 rotates the square shaft and consequently the gate actuating shaft in' one'direction or another for opening or closing such gates.

After the gates areopened or closed the'coupling is disconnected and the truck propelled to' the next car.

of the truck'which is opposite from that seenin Fig, 1, thesquare shaft is completely. withdrawn and inserted from the top of Fig. 2so as to properly present the coupling. l e:

By the swiveling means best shown in Fig. 11

and the universal joint best shown in Fig.5, the,

square shaft need ,not be perfectly aligned with the said gate actuating shaft 'I he plate 22 is provided, along the upper edge When the gate actuating shaft is on the side:

power drive coupling; sufiicienttorque is available without tipping. r r

mother modes of applying the principle of invention may be employed instead of the oneing. the movement of the elevator substantially to a vertical plane, a ,drivingshaft positionedin I ayxplane parallel i to the planeyof movement of said elevator at. an elevationbeyond the range of movement-of said elevator, ,a pair of pivotally, connected link members, pivotallyl-connecting re spectively to the drive,.shaft and said rotatable means, and power transmission mean interconnecting said drive shaft,-.-,the pivota1connection between said link, members and said rotat able means whereby rotational movement from the drive shaft maybe ,irnparted'to said rotatable means throughout the range of movement of said eva '3 :1.- 11. Y

2 ."The combination of a truck, an elevatorcarriedthereb comprisinganelevating screw and elevator platform on saidgscrew; mean for rotatingsaid e1evator ;serew, coupling means, rotatable means 'carryinggsaid' coupling means, said rotatable means journalled in said elevator platform, aspacer arm pivotally carried by said rotatable means'anotherspacer arm,-.a shaft pivot ally interconnecting-said spacer arms,- a driving shaft carried by said last-named spacer arm and positive driving meansinterconnecting said rotatable means to said shaft and said driving shaft whereby torque is transmitted from said' driving shaft to said rotatable means regardless of the height of said elevator.-

3. In ,a device'of the character described, the

combination of a truck an elevator; comprising a vertical screw, an elevator platform driven by said screw, a pair of friction, driving discs;for

driving saidscrew, saidfriction driving discs H slippinglrelatively to each other when the limit thereof with a sponge rubberfpaddin 185 for safety purposes. g I I 3 I I 5 i From the foregoing it willbe seen that .within predetermined limits'regardless of the disposition of the railroad gate actuating shaft, the same may be actuated by the means herein disclosed. It will alsobe seen that the steering r-nechanism is non-responsive to jarring of the wheels 18 so that the truck willnot swerve oi'f of the cat-walk.

The rounding of the corners and generalistreamlining render the device less likely to'engage obstructions so that the same may be operated in relatively close quarters, H I

Great torque is frequently reduired to rotate the gate actuating shaft because the gate actuatingmechanism is deterioratedor slightly jammed orgbecauseof adverse atmospheric conditions. Due to the combined weightxof the truckand of travelpf said elevator is reached; coupling means; a universal swiveling driv ng connection comprising a-rotatable hollow: sleeve journalled in said elevator platform transversely of said,

truch said hollow sleeve having a portion of its interiorsurface of a spherical form, a second hol-.

low sleeve, within said first named sleeve having external spherical surfaces conforming to the spherical internal surface of said first hollow sleeve and an elongated shaft extending through and being co-axially movable relative to said secondhollow sleeve, said elongated shaft carrying said coupling means; a spacerarm pivoted on said first, named hollowI sleeve, a second spacer arm; pivotedon a driving-shaft on, said truck, a shaft interconnecting said spacer arms and driving means, interconnecting. said driving shaft, said first-named; hollow sleeve, and said last-named im?- 1; a v

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